Administrative IT

New system for health human resources in New Brunswick

FREDERICTON, N.B. – The Province of New Brunswick will invest over $826,000 for a new computerized system used by the Department of Health for health human resource planning, Health Minister Michael Murphy (pictured) said.

“Good human resource information is key to ensuring New Brunswickers have access to the healthcare provider they need now and will need in the future,” Murphy said. “That’s why our department, in partnership with various health associations, maintains a computerized system for the registration of regulated health professionals in our province.”

The Service Provider System is used by the professional associations to register their New Brunswick members and includes demographic, educational and professional information.

This information is shared with the Department of Health’s Health Workforce Unit, and allows the unit to monitor changing trends in the workforce and to engage in good healthcare human-resource planning.

The original computer system was developed in the early 1990s and is now outdated.

Murphy said the new system will be able to collect data directly from the professional associations, using a web-based interface, and will allow the department to expand data collection beyond the eight health service associations that currently are part of the Service Provider System.

“There are close to 30 health professions practising in our province, and we will need to collect and analyze data from these professions in order to ensure there is a sufficient supply for the future,” Murphy said. “The current system lacks the capacity to accept additional data, but the new system will allow us to expand data collection to the remaining health professions.”

Murphy said the new Service Provider System is part of government’s e-health strategy to better use electronic information and computer technology to enhance the delivery and management of health care.